This invention relates to a pair of detachable skis for use in conjunction with existing snow sleds and the like. More particularly, this invention relates to new and improved ski attachments for sleds which permit improved control and maneuverability relative to prior art ski attachments used on sleds.
Sleds are used by children and adults to slide down hills covered with snow as a winter time recreational activity. It is well known that such snow sleds comprise a platform for supporting one or more riders thereon which in turn, is attached to a pair of parallel, typically metal, sled runners. These sled runners are generally narrow and are comparable to rails. The sled of the type hereinabove described is directionally controlled by pivoting a wooden handle mounted on the platform and arranged perpendicularly to the sled runners. This handle acts to slightly bend or twist the metal sled runners to the right or to the left resulting in a corresponding directional change as the rider slides down the snowy hill.
A recognized problem and deficiency with sleds of the type described above exists when the hill has deep snow or snow of a fluffy nature. Under such snow conditions, the narrow sled runners or rails do not easily glide down the hill and therefore sledding is made difficult or impossible. It will be appreciated that the metal sled runners or rails are designed for use on hard packed snow conditions.
One way of overcoming the above discussed problem has been to attach a pair of relatively wider skis to the narrow parallel sled runners or rails. The wider skis will function in a manner substantially similar to downhill or cross country skis used by individual skiers and will thus permit the sled to be used in deep and/or fluffy snowy conditions. Examples of the use of ski attachments on snow sleds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 954,377, 1,303,388, 2,016,187, 3,578,351, 3,738,676, 3,751,057, and 4,105,217.
While suitable for their intended purposes, all of the prior art attempts of providing sled skis to sleds suffer from an important problem and deficiency. This problem stems from the fact that typically, a single continuous ski is used in conjunction with each sled runner or rail. The use of a single and generally rigid ski will adversely effect the control and maneuverability of the sled when the handle is actuated by the sled rider. In practice, while the handle will easily bend the sled rail in the desired direction, it is much more difficult to bend the attached sled ski in a desired manner. As a consequence, control of the sled on downhill runs are quite difficult when using the several devices shown in the prior art patents.